Self-locking slider



H. HEIMBERGER SELF-LOCKING SLIDER Jan. 7, 1969 Sheet Filed March 28, 1967 m R. 6 O R T a V, m w m w A rramisx Jan. 7, 1969 HEIMBERGER 3,419,943

SELF-LOCKING SLIDER Filed March 28, 1967 Sheet 2 of 2 INVENTOR.

l/amur HEIMBERGER ATTORNEY United States Patent US. Cl. 24205.14 Int. Cl. A45b 19/00 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A lockable slider for a slide fastener wherein the slider body has an upper guide member or shield, a lower guide member or shield and a web or splitter connecting the upper and lower members and forming therewith a pair of guide channels for the respective coupling elements merging at the narrow mouth of the slider body, a bow member surmounting the upper member lies generally in a longitudinal plane thereof while having one end of the bow member anchored to the body and the other end of the resiliently deflecta-ble bow member terminating at the mouth and provided with a locking finger at the mouth for engagement with the coupling elements of the slide fastener to lock the slider thereto; the finger is withdrawable from engagement with the coupling elements upon deflection of the cantilevered bow member away from the body by its handle.

My present invention relates to self-locking sliders for slide fasteners and, more particularly, to a slider construction adapted to interconnect and disconnect a pair of mating coupling elements of a slide fastener upon movement therealong and capable of self-locking against movement of the slider upon release of its handle.

Slide fasteners of various constructions have been proposed in which a pair of slide-fastener halves are formed along confronting edges with matingly interconnectable continuous or interrupted coupling elements Whose heads are receivable in complementary spaces formed between the heads of the other coupling elements as a slider, which rides along these coupling elements, brings the coupling elements together or splits them apart. In principle, such sliders are formed with relatively divergent guide channels at one end which merge at the narrow mouth of the slider; the guide channels are formed by a web at the end of the slider remote from the narrow mouth, connecting upper and lower plates. As the slider is drawn to and fro along the coupling elements, the latter are guided into a meshing or interleaved condition as they emerge from the narrow end of the guide channels, thereby interconnecting the slide-fastener halves. Upon opposite movement of the slider, the web or splitter element operates to separate the coupling elements.

The support tapes can be synthetic-resin foils to which the coupling elements are attached by crimping, stitching, adhesive techniques, thermal welding or by injection molding the coupling elements onto the support tapes. The coupling elements can be continuous (i.e. helicoidal or meandering strands formed with spaced-apart heads receivable in complementary spaces of the other coupling elements) or coupling-element chains of metallic or plastic members spaced apart along the support tape to form the respective heads.

The upper and lower plate-like guide members of the slider may be formed of individual parts having the configuration of shields and connected together via the web which may be integral with one or the other or may be an "ice independent third member which serves to join the upper and lower members together.

When it has been desired to provide locking means on these sliders to immobilize them at any desired position along the coupling elements, it has been the practice to provide a pawl upon a handle member which is pivotably linked to the upper plate at a hinge to permit the handle, usually in the form of a flap, to swing about an axis perpendicular to the direction of movement of the slider and parallel to the plane of movement thereof. An opening is provided in the upper plate behind the web or splitter in the direction of fastener-coupling movement of the slider to engage the interleaved heads of the coupling elements and retain the slider at any position to which it is brought when the flap is closed down onto the slider and its pawl inserted through the aforementioned opening. Since the slider body, consisting of the upper and lower plates and a splitter or web connecting them, can be formed unitarily (i.e. from a single piece of sheet metal), the pawl or finger was provided upon the fiap or handle and special mounting precautions were required to insure that, in a locked condition of the slider, the pawl would pass unobstructedly through an opening to engage the coupling element. The mounting systems, hinge construction and the like were expensive, diificult to control and often unsatisfactory. For example, when the opening was enlarged to give the pawl or finger greater play and similarly increased play was provided in the hinge arrangement so that meticulous mounting arrangements and assembly procedures could be avoided, the least stress upon the slider ejected the pawl and released the lock.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved slider of relatively low cost, simple construction and effective locking capabilities which avoids the aforementioned disadvantages.

A further object of this invention is to provide a selflockable slider for slide-fastener assembly of the character described.

These objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are attained in accordance with the present invention by providing a slider for slide-fastener members of the character described, which comprises a shieldshaped upper and alower member, interconnected by a web member forming a splitter for the coupling element at one end of the slider, the members defining a pair of channels for the respective coupling elements approaching one another toward the other end of the slider, thereby interleaving the coupling elements upon movement of the slider along the coupling element with the web member foremost in the direction of motion, the slider being provided, in the region of its narrow mouth, with a locking formation integral with a generally U-shaped bow-portion lying in the longitudinal median plane of the slider in the direction of movement thereof and forming an elastic loop biasing the finger into the channel of the slider with a resiliency determined by the dimensions of the spring portion of the slider from which this finger depends.

According to an important aspect of this invention, the finger is integral with the bow member which also serves swingably to secure a gripper flap or handle to the slider and functions to resiliently suspend the finger and permit transfer of force to the latter when the handle is drawn away from the body of the slider to withdraw the finger from locking engagement with the coupling elements.

The upper member of the slider is formed with an opening in the region of its narrow mouth through which the finger can extend into engagement with the coupling elements. At the web portion or forward end of the slider (when the latter is shifted in fastener-closing direction), the bow member is fixed to the slider body and preferably is integral therewith, the upper and lower members, the

web member and the bow member all being integrally and unitarily molded from a synthetic resin in a single operation. Thus, the bow member forms a resilient element cantilevered at the front end of the body, and forming the locking pawl at its other end or mouth, this pawl being deflectable in part out of the opening in the upper member when the handle flap is drawn away from the body by the user; in the absence of such force, the elasticity of the bow member itself serves to urge the finger into engagement with the coupling element to lock the slider when the handle is released.

According to another feature of this invention, the slider is provided with a tongue formed in the upper member in the region of the slider mouth by a pair of longitudinally extending slots flanking the locking finger, this tongue engaging the bow member or being integral therewith to apply a bias to the pawl or finger tending to urge it in the direction of the coupling element when the finger is withdrawn from engagement.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of a slider according to this invention shown greatly enlarged over its normal size;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view taken along a longitudinal plane of the slider of FIG. 1 and drawn to a somewhat larger scale;

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IIA--IIA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IIBIIB in FIG. 2;

FIG 3 is a fragmentary view of the mouth of the slider of FIG. 2 with the locking pawl or finger thereof in a withdrawn or disengaged position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bow member of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a view taken along the line VI--VI of FIG. 4.

Referring first to FIGS. l-3, it can be seen that a coupling element, in accordance with the present invention, comprises a shield-shaped lower member 1 and a coextensive upper member 2 which are integral with one another at the front end So of the slider body which is designated generally at 511. Between the upper and lower members 1 and 2, there is disposed a splitter or web member 3 of wedge-like configuration (FIGS. 2A and 2B) which is designed to separate the coupling elements upon movement of the slider in its rearward direction (arrow 50). The upper and lower members 1, 2 are channeled at in and 2a in the region of the narrow mouth 5 of the slider and define with the web member 3 a pair of channels represented diagrammatically by the axis 5d and 5e of the coupling elements adapted to pass therethrough. As the coupling elements approach one another in the region of the mouth 5, they mesh or interleave in the usual manner because the width w (FIG. 1) of this mouth is less than the combined widths of the coupling elements along which the slider rides. Thus, movement of the slider in the direction of arrow 5c will spread the coupling elements represented at 5a and 5e and open the slider whereas movement in the forward direction (arrow 5f), i.e. in the direction of the web 3 and away from the mouth 5, will draw the coupling elements 5d and 5e together and interconnect them.

The upper member 2 is provided with a tongue 8 in the longitudinally median plane P of the slide fastener by a pair of slots 9 which flank a bow member 7 and extend to the mouth 5 of the slider. The tongue 8 thus forms a leaf spring which tends to bias the bow member in the direction of arrow 8a when the bow member 7 is drawn upwardly away from the body of the slider fastener as illustrated in FIG. 3.

The bow member 7 is integral with the body 5a of the slider as represented in FIG. 2 so that the resilient or spring force is generated solely by elastic deformation of the plastic material from which the body is constructed. The tongue 8 terminates in a pawl or finger 6 at the junction between this finger and the free end of the bow mem ber 7 (FIG. 3), the finger 6 projecting downwardly into the opening 9a between the slots 9. This opening 9a is partially covered by the tongue 8 but forms a window in the upper member 2 through which the finger 6 of the bow member 7 extends. The bow member 7 is an elastically deformable U-shaped member which lies in the longitudinal median plane P of the body and serves as a loop engaging the handle 4.

Whereas the handle of the slider in prior locking a1- rangements was provided with a complex pivot system and the locking pawl, the handle 4 of the present system is merely a flap adapted to draw the slider in the direction of arrow 50 when the slide fastener is to be opened, in the direction of arrow Sq when the slide fastener is to be closed and to draw the pawl 6 upwardly (arrow 4a in FIG. 3) when release of the slide fastener is desired.

The entire slide fastener assembly of FIGS. 1-3 is injection-molded in a single piece from a thermoplastic synthetic resin, although the tongue 8 is provided with a thickness which may be only a fraction of the thickness of the upper slider member 2 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). The handle 4 is provided with an opening 40 spaced from the end of this handle and receiving the bow member 7 so that a land 4b of the handle between the end thereof and the opening 40 forms an abutment enabling the handle to lift the bow member 7 or to press the latter (arrow 8a) inwardly to lock the slider.

In the modification of FIGS. 4-6, the elastically deformable bow member 17 has a finger 16 which extends through .an opening 19a formed at the end of the upper member 12 in the region of the mouth 15 of the slider. The cantilevered portion of bow member 17 is constituted by a shank 17a which extends through an opening 11a, passage 13a and a further opening 12a in the lower member 11, the web or splitter 13 and the upper member 12 of the slider body, respectively. The shank 17a is force fitted into these openings and passages so that the body of the slide fastener is rigidly held together thereby, a weld 17a bonding the bow member to the lower member 11 at an enlarged head 17b formed by heat sealing or welding together. Solvent sealing can also be used. In the present system, the bow member extends through the upper and lower members 11 and 12 of the slider bow and the web member 13 therebetween to transfix these parts. Thus the assembly can be formed quickly and simply by threading the shank 17a through the openings 11a, 12a and 13a and then fusing the parts together.

At the free end of the bow member 17, the opening 19a is provided with a pair of longitudinally extending ribs 18 which form tongues overlying laterally projecting flanges 16a flanking the finger 16. The members 18 form stops which yieldably limit the outward movement (arrow 14a) of the bow member 17 when the finger 16 is to be released from the slide fastener. The members 16a and 18 are, of course, readily deflected upon insertion of the finger 16 through the opening 19a, and the shank 17a is readily inserted through the openings 11a, 12a and 13a to mount the bow member 17 in place. Whereas it is convenient to form the land 4b of the handle 4 as a split land to accommodate the bow portion 7, in the present system, the handle 4 can be simply threaded onto the shank 17a before the bow member is affixed to the slider body 15a.

The invention described and illustrated is believed to admit of many modifications within the ability of persons skilled in the art, all such modifications being considered within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A lockable slider for a slide fastener having a pair of coupling elements along respective slide-fastener halves interconnectable upon movement of the slider along said coupling elements in a fastener-closing direction and adapted to disengage the coupling elements upon movement of the slider in an opposite fastener-opening direction, said slider comprising:

a slider body having an upper guide member, a lower guide member and a web member connecting said upper and lower guide member and forming therewith a pair of guide channels for the respective coupling elements merging at a narrow mouth of the slider body remote from said web member;

a resiliently defiectable bow member surmounting said upper member and extending over most of the upper member in said direction, while lying generally in a longitudinal plane thereof and having one end of the bow member anchored to said body and the other end of said how member terminating at said mouth; and

a locking finger connected with and forming an extension of said other end of said bow member and projectable into said channels at said mouth for engagement with said coupling'elements to lock the slider thereto, said finger being withdrawable from engagement with said couplingelements upon deflection of said other end of said bow member away from said 25 body, said upper guide member being provided with a pair of mutually parallel transversely spaced slots extending toward said mouth and defining in said upper guide member a resiliently defiectable tongue integral with said bow member at said locking finger.

2. The slider defined in claim 1 wherein said tongue biases said finger inwardly into locking engagement with said coupling elements.

3. The slider defined in claim 1 wherein all of said members are unitarily molded from a synthetic resin.

4. The slider defined in claim 1 wherein said tongue has a thickness less than the thickness of said upper member.

5. The slider defined in claim 1, further comprising/rt handle flap mounted on said bow member for shifting said slider.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,734,405 11/1929 Shipman 24 205.14 1,967,137 7/1934 Sundback 24 205.14 2,045,626 6/1936 Winterhalter 24-20514 2,197,690 4/1940 Gay 24-20514 2,215,745 9/1940 Sunback 24-20544 FOREIGN PATENTS 147,732 8/1952 Australia.

490,407 8/1938 Great Britain.

BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner. 

